Movie: Les Miserables

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5…I think…

Genre: Classic, musical, life, adventure

Primary actors: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Russell Crowe

Length: Just over two and a half hours

Based on: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Time period: 1800s (early, possibly with a touch of 1700s)

Year it came out: 2012

My overall opinion: I didn’t know what I would think of it going in. I was 75% sure it wouldn’t be my new favorite movie – I like happy movies, and I knew (even without knowing the story line) that LesMis wasn’t. But it was a chance to hang out with two of my best friends for an evening, while seeing a movie that a lot of people were saying was really good…so I went.

What did I think? I’m still not sure, as you can see by my rating. Some of it was amazing…some I didn’t like nearly so much. But overall, I am not opposed to seeing it again someday.

Warning: if you haven’t seen it yet, please don’t read this review. I’m awful about spoilers. Watch it first, then read this. Please skip to the bottom and look for the blue font to see my warnings and overall impression -- should you see it?

Now that we have that done with…and you’d better not be reading anymore now if you haven’t seen it!

On to my opinions. They are an utterly random assortment of the thoughts I remembered after the movie. So if you have something in mind I didn’t mention…ask me. Oh, also? I haven’t (this is embarrassing) read the book. Really. And right now? I do not have time for a book that size. But someday, when my life slows down a bit (does it ever do that again?) I will read it. Promise.

Other warning: this is turning out to be super long, probably the longest review I’ve ever written…skim as needed. And comment. As you read. :) I will reply! 

NOW. As stated, no order. Opening scene! Fascinating. Amazing. Unbelievable. That big boat being towed with pure man-power into a gigantic dock? I didn’t think they built docks that size in the 1800s. Or boats. Ummm, ships. Either way. That scene…I really liked it. A lot. Incidentally, the song there was also amazing…Look Down.

Before I continue, let me take a quick side-track about the music. Point 1: I know it’s supposed to be a musical. Point 2: I loved some of the songs, and they’re still running through my head – impressive. Point 3 (aka the Clincher): I thought there was too much singing. Every time I turned around…there was another song. Not that I was literally turning around…but, well, you know what I mean. For me, the songs got old after a bit. That being said, as stated, I really liked some of them! I’ll come to more on that presently.

There were six (count ‘em, six) dramatic deaths. Like I mentioned, I’m a happy movie person. Bright, cheerful, everybody happy, and not too much stupid romantic drama. So deaths really aren’t my thing! And these! I’ll say more about the rating presently, but I’d say the film definitely earned its PG-13 rating. It did end up feeling like person after person was keeling over dead…or falling to their death…or being shot…but I understand that that’s the way the book goes and the movie must, of course, follow the book – I wouldn’t wish it otherwise.

My favorite female? Nope, not Anne Hathaway. In fact, Fantine  really wasn’t a favorite character for me. Stop! Side-track. We’re going to talk about her and her character right here, right now, before we get to my favorite girl. I’m afraid I wasn’t exceptionally fond of Anne as Fantine. Admittedly, I don’t know what Fantine is supposed to be like, having no prior experience of the story…hmmm. Anne has a lovely voice, to be sure, but…I think her personality, her character, they’re meant for light flitty films. Her as a heavy tragic character? For me, it didn’t really work. As to her singing I Dreamed a Dream…well, we’ll come to that. (I made a list and am mostly going by that. ;)

Anyway, favorite female. Was Eponine. Yup. For some reason, I really liked her…which sounds weird. I guess I connected a lot better with her than with Fontaine. Her song, On My Own, was amazing. Possibly my favorite in the whole movie. And she was my favorite character! I don’t know what it was about her… But anyway. She was awesome, I thought. Her smile is so sweet! Even though she really is a tragic character, I suppose.

Randomly, I wasn’t very fond of Cosette either. As a child, yes, I liked her. Sweet voice, sweet girl. But once she grew up…I think she mostly just bugged me, somehow. Equally randomly, the whole scene under the city was amazing. And disgusting. Because sewage is. But equally amazing. That huge complex…wow. This scene, like the opening one, fascinated me. And also randomly, because this paragraph is the random one…those guns? Wow. Scary. My first thought when I saw them shot was “Ummm…dangerous! Those guns are dangerous!” Now, I’m not one of those most unfortunate people who has a fear of guns – on the contrary, I own one and enjoy shooting. No, that thought was because they fire and fire quite literally goes everywhere! Very dangerous. And I’m glad I wasn’t shooting one. And that thought…it made me smile. Because the second part was that “someone’s going to get hurt!” Which was kinda the whole purpose of those guns in the first place…

This…is really long. I wasn’t expecting to be quite this wordy. But I have days when I can rattle off an entire book without thinking twice – today, for example. ;)

My other favorite characters? I take that back. They weren’t favorites, not really. But I, again, was fascinated! They were most interesting, intriguing too. Know who I mean yet? That’s right, Cosette’s evil and scheming guardians, Messieur and Madame Thenardier. They were unbelievable. And dreadful. And very interesting. I loved…that’s not the right word. I thought it was really cool how they stole from everyone. I mean, it was awful, to be sure…but also really cool.

I did really like the two young patriots, Marius and Enjorlas...pretty awesome guys! :) And I did include these few lines just so I could include a picture.

And now! A few paragraphs about the songs. Firstly, the one song I knew going into this film…I Dreamed a Dream. As y’all ought to know, Susan Boyle had great success with this one a few years back. Remember? If you don’t, go look it up and listen. To be quite frank, I definitely prefer Susan’s version over Anne’s. In all fairness, I’ve loved Susan’s for years. But at the same time, I think her voice was perfect it. Rich, strong, vibrant. Anne has a “sweet” voice, much higher and lighter. I didn’t like it much, though Anne did a good job, I admit. I enjoyed the way that the song theme was worked into the movie a few other times…as stated, it was the only song I knew ahead, so my ears recognized it each time. :) I also “enjoyed” the extra verse added…extra only because Susan doesn’t sing that part.

The whole Lovely Ladies song and scene…most memorable. Quite horrible, really, when you think about it…not in film terms, but just the conditions that they’re in. And what’s going on. But I don’t think you’ll find yourself forgetting it anytime soon! Rather disturbing. I can’t imagine how much work the film-makers put into that sequence. Incidentally? Some of that was way too disgusting for me. Just saying. (I’m referencing the teeth-pulling…more about everything else presently.)

Two more songs I want yet to mention. The first is One Day More. Wow. That scene was just plain cool. Was it just me, or did pretty much the entire cast get to sing parts of that? It was so neat to see everyone that way! At the same time, I did find it a little disconcerting…all these people, all different places, all singing this song? I know, I know, that’s what musicals do…still bugged me.

The second song to mention is Do You Hear the People Sing? And THAT is the song that has been stuck in my head ever since. It’s catchy. And sad. And amazing. [[Addition: 24 hours after writing this, as I quickly read over to proof it…just reading the title starts the song in my head! THAT is the sign of a good song.]] [[Other addition: At the End of the Day...it's more enjoyable every time I listen to it.]]

Now, the touchy topics…the PG-13 content. Like I said earlier, there was quite enough to earn it a PG-13 rating, I thought. Many of the dresses had extremely low necklines (no doubt accurate for the period and country and people) and there was some other stuff of that sort as well…I’d really rather not talk about it, so just go HERE to read about it on IMDB. And then there was also the gore aspect…the producers didn’t skimp on the blood and gore and violence content. So be warned – this time period was very violent, and this movie portrays it clearly. Be careful.


I have completed my list! All this, by the way, was written in just under 45 minutes. :) Not counting the editing, videos, or pictures. Which I’ll add later. Oh, random note...I just barely made it without any crying -- BARELY. My eyes were wet for the last scene...but my makeup (which I had forgotten that I wasn't going to wear) was intact.

Finally, Les Mis fans, you'll want to check out the fancy photos taken for Vogue! There are only eight, but they're awesome. Go here.

My overall opinion for those of you who haven't seen it yet? Worth watching, but use caution. Not for young viewers, or the faint of heart. Overall, I liked it in most parts and if you've enjoyed the book, this movie/musical is worth a try. :)
 

Back to you. If you've seen it, what did you think? Love it, hate it, not sure? What else do you want my opinion on? What did you disagree with my thoughts on? Have you posted your review yet? (I’d love to see it…leave me a link and I’ll come read it) Comment, sil vous plait!

Male Doubles: Post 4

Here we go, a fourth post of Male Doubles! When you start looking, it's amazing how many doubles there are out there. :)

Hugo Weaving

Elrond (Lord of the Rings, 2001, 2002, 2003)

The Red Skull (Captain America, 2011)

Dominic Cooper

Willoughby (Sense and Sensibility, 2008)

Howard Stark (Captain America, 2011 -- he's the father of Iron Man)

Terrence Howard

Rhodey (Iron Man 2008)

Captain A. J. Bullard (Red Tails 2012)*

James (Princess and the Frog 2009)

Morgan Freeman

Lucius Fox (Batman movies, 2005, 2008, 2012)

Hoke Colburn (Driving Miss Daisy)

Christian Bale

 

 Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Batman movies, 2005, 2008, 2012)(I haven't seen the third one)

Laurie Laurence (Little Women, 1995)

   * means I haven't seen it. 

Enjoy this post? Click the "Doubles" tag below to read more like this!    

Giveaways Reminder!

Don't forget to enter the giveaways that are currently going on here on Austenitis! Two of them end tomorrow, the other ends later next week.

You can enter to win Vanished and/or No Safe Harbor by going here. Hurry! Ends tomorrow!

Also, enter to win a digital copy of Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits here.

And if you want the giveaway for Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow...you'd better hurry. Remember, 51 Facebook likes for Austenitis? Well, it's currently at 26...which is past half-way! Good job, folks! But...it's not quite 51. There's still a chance...so keep it up, and a big thanks to everyone who has liked it so far! If you haven't yet, and want to, here's a link:

http://www.facebook.com/Austenitis

A Quilt for Jenna

Author: Patrick E. Craig

Genre: Amish, life, family

Series: Apple Creek Dreams

Number in series: 1^st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 300

Time period: Present

Passage from book:

My overall opinion: I was most pleasantly surprised by this book! I had received it at least a week before I read it, but put it off…”just another Amish book. And why did I request it for review again?” But then, I finally picked it up – talk about happy amazement! This book is so much more than the cover promises. The writing is hands down brilliant, the story is heart-moving, the excitement almost paralyzing, and it is all around a wonderful story of, as a reviewer before me said, “sacrifice… and forgiveness.” I encourage you to try it even if Amish fiction isn’t usually your thing! Trust me, you’ll probably forget it even an Amish book – well, maybe not quite, but it isn’t blaringly obvious like in some books. The cover may not excite or interest you, but the story…oh so good.

**Harvest House Publishers supplied me with this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to post a positive review, nor was I paid in any way other than the book.**

Giveaway and Guest Post: Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits

Welcome, readers, to my first guest post by an author! This isn't just another interview...nope, this author actually contacted me wanting to tell y'all about her new book, Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it sounds like a fun book...so without any more ado, let's get started with Mary Jane Hathaway's post! Read through, and at the bottom, you'll get an author bio, a book blurb, and the thing you've all been waiting for...a giveaway!

 

Hello! I’m so excited to be talking about my new book, “Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits”! Wait, did the blogger reader count just slip? I think I heard the sound of hundreds of people quietly clicking past this post. But why, dear ones?? It’s historical and it’s about the Civil War and it’s funny.

What can go wrong?

I hear a brave soul in the back yelling out something about that title… I can’t quite catch it… Blasphemy? How can cheese grits, that so lowly of the Southern dishes, possibly occur in the same title with Austen’s wit and genius?

Oh. I see. Well, let me explain.

Like some girls who love romance and historical writing, I am beyond obsessed with Jane Austen. Obsession is for amateurs. Napoleon was obsessed with Josephine. Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear for that girl whose name nobody can recall.

None of those ended well because they were merely obsessed. (Okay, also a bit nutso, to be honest.)

Austen fans sprint past obsession and head for the kind of clarity that comes from dedicating one’s entire life to the cause of all things Jane.

So, once we’ve established that point of reference, you can start to see how everything relates back to Jane. What Jane Austen thought of eating less than two courses at meal times. What Jane Austen thought of when to wear white. What Jane thought about refusing offers of marriage in a dignified way. (Maybe that last one doesn’t come into play much for a lot of us. *sob*) But still, Jane becomes a guiding force in our lives.
 

We whisper her best lines when we’re too mad to make up our own vicious come-backs. We put down that handful of frosted flakes and pick up a blushing red apple. We take time out from the endless e-mail and Twitter and facebook to arrange some flowers because that’s what Jane would do.

As I started writing this book, I had a firm idea of my heroine and my hero and my cast of characters and my plot. It was mine, mine, mine! I giddily wrote scene after scene that made me laugh or cry or glare. (I’m one of those writers that makes HERSELF laugh or cry, even re-reading it. I’m pretty easy that way.) So, it was a little annoying to have Jane’s best lines running on a loop in the background of my mind. I fought it mightily, drowned it with noise, and doused it with scads of NYT bestselling historical thrillers that made no sense and were completely inaccurate.

My brilliant heroine, a Civil War historian from a town named Flea Bite Creek, was good enough, right? Who needed Austen to muddy it up?

Nope.

She was still there. Sometimes arching a brow, sometimes hiding behind a book, but mostly laughing at me.

So, I started to write each chapter by getting my Jane quote out of my head and onto the page. I wanted hero and heroine to have a great big nasty fight? “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” Natch! I needed the villain to be fooling the entire world with his smarminess? “Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends- whether he may be equally capable of retaining them is less certain.” How about our heroine seeing the injustice in the world and not letting it pass without a comment? “My dear Lizzy, do not give way to such feelings as these. They will ruin your happiness.”

And on it went until we’d finally reached the end of our tale of the heart, set in Southern academia, with our hero realizing that his hopes were not dashed, after all. “It taught me to hope,” said he, “as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before.”

Wonderful! The book was finished!! I promptly removed all the Austen quotes and set about editing it. Polishing and cutting and slicing and dicing. Ow. Owie. YOW. But it had to be done. Now it was a nicely sized novel, 300 pages, fun to read and ready to be submitted.

But it was missing something. I fiddled and rearranged and sulked and grumped.

The book was no good. Not without Jane. Not without her subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) wit and sense of irony. Certainly not without her as a compass for my story, when I use her as a compass for my living.

So back in she went. And from there I heard from dozens of agents, scores of editors and a handful of publishers that this book would never sell. Too weird. (Cheese grits? What is that exactly? Nobody loves Southern culture, they said.) Too complicated. (Nobody can follow Civil War history, a fight for antebellum mansions, a family drama, a mystery, a crime, and a romance all at once, they said.) Too boring. (Nobody reads about academics, they said. Academics are boring. They live in their own little world, surrounded by imaginary and real-but-dead people.) Too quiet. (Nobody wants to read about people who love Austen when they can read about a hot female bail bondsman in love with two even hotter men. Unless I could put some of that in the book? they asked. I actually laughed at that because some day, somewhere, maybe there will be a Jane Austen/ Stephanie Plum mash-up which will sell like hotcakes. But I think that’s a bit more than I can pull off.)

And that’s when I stopped listening. I love Southern culture! I love mysteries and crimes and romances and family drama and Civil War history! I love academia and professors and universities and memories of those all-night pizza parties when you’re a freshman and gain forty pounds because your mother isn’t there to tell you to eat something green and Twinkies aren’t breakfast food.. (Oh, maybe that was just me? *cough, cough*)

And mostly, I love Austen. I love Pride and Prejudice. I’m beyond ‘love it’ all the way into the ‘I think I would have to marry this book if it wasn’t illegal’.

So, that’s the story of how ‘Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits’ came to be written, and rejected, and resurrected by the good folks at Amazon. Bless their little hearts, letting us digitize any random thing! Yee-haw, my friends, that means more books about subjects we love!

I hope you enjoy my little slice of Austen mania. The next book in the series, ‘Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs’ will be coming out in May 2013. Until then, my sweets, stand tall in whatever particular form of genius (not craziness, NOT!) your historical literature obsession brings you!
 

BIO: Mary Jane Hathaway is the pen name of an award-nominated writer who spends the majority of her literary energy on subjects un-related to Jane Austen. A homeschooling mother of six young children who rarely wear shoes, she’s madly in love with a man who has never read Pride and Prejudice. She holds degrees in Religious Studies and Theoretical Linguistics, and has a Jane Austen quote on the back of her van. She can be reached on facebook at her regular author page of Virginia Carmichael (which is another pen name, because she’s just that cool).

Book blurb: Shelby Roswell is a history professor on the fast track to tenure until her new book is crushed in a review by the famous historian, Ransom Fielding. She struggles to regain her momentum only to discover that Fielding has taken a visiting professorship at her college. The place that was once a refuge from the poverty of her past is now a battlefield of Civil War proportions.

Ransom is still struggling with his role in his wife’s accidental death six years ago and was hoping a year at Shelby’s small college would be a respite from the reminders back home. He never bargained for falling in love with the one woman who would give anything to make him leave. Together Shelby and Ransom learn that home is never very far away, and when you least expect it, love arrives.

With a cast of Civil War re-enactors, an evil wedding planner, antebellum mansions, and several mysterious diaries, 'Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits' will take you on a touching and hilarious ride through a modern South you haven't seen before.

Book Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PridePrejudiceAndCheeseGrits

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A Lady Like Sarah

Author: Margaret Brownley

Genre: Romance, adventure

Series: Rocky Creek Romance

Number in series: 1^st 

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5 high

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 313

Time period: 1800s

My overall opinion: Margaret Brownley did not disappoint! This was a good book, and I enjoyed the humor sprinkled liberally throughout. Sarah’s accent (or rather, her bad English) was annoying…but accurate to the character, and after reading for a while, you got completely accustomed to it. Overall, a good book, like I said.

The Tutor’s Daughter

Author: Julie Klassen

Genre: Life, adventure, mystery, romance

Series: Nope, not part of a series (though I wish it was), but fits beautifully with Julie’s other books

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9 high

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 412

Time period: 1800s

Passage from book: Sorry, no, but I’m including the book trailer below!

My overall opinion: This was such a fun book! I loved the setting and the characters. It’s quite reminiscent in both of those respects of Jane Austen, with a touch of Jane Eyre added in. It’s not quite dark (or what I would call gothic), but has some rather melodramatic scenes in it. It would make a great movie! Trust me, you won’t solve all the mysteries on your own. The romance was sweet but not overdone, the adventure was (as stated) a little melodramatic, perhaps a little much at times…but hey, just go with it and you’ll be fine. :) And the mystery was indeed mysterious! Actually, there are several mysteries at play here. If you can get a hold on a copy, don’t let it go! Oh, also…Emma was the perfect name for the heroine. She was quite similar to Jane Austen’s Emma in some ways, not the least of which, her last name – Smallwood versus Woodhouse. I don’t love this trailer, but it should serve to let you know what the book is about.

Female Doubles: Post 4

I've accumulated so many extra doubles that I'm going to have to do another short series on them! Originally, I have planned to just do multiple short posts as I found them...but those take up a lot of room, so after doing it several times, I decided to just go back to the big posts. There are several coming now for women and men, so keep your eyes open for those!

Gwyneth Paltrow

 Emma (Emma 1996)

Pepper Potts (Iron Man 2008, 2010, 2013, and Avengers 2012)*(excepting 2008)

Joanna Barnes

 

Vicki (The Parent Trap 1961)

Cynthia Fenwick (Beverly Hillbillies)

Sally Hawkins

 

Anne Elliot (Persuasion 2007)

Mrs. Reed (Jane Eyre 2011)*

Nancy Kulp

Miss Grunecker (Parent Trap 1961)

{{no picture}}

 

     Jane Hathaway (Beverly Hillbillies)

Alice Krige

Lady Russell (Persuasion 2007)  

Sybil Gordon (Chariots of Fire)

* means I haven't seen it yet.

I Was Featured!

Today I was featured on Diane Estrella's blog! If you click HERE and go check it out, you can learn more about me...and see a picture of the real me, not just the Austenite me. Go check it out, everyone! Leave me a comment...and while you're there, check out Diane's awesome giveaways, on her sidebar. Once again, here's a link:

http://dianeestrella.com/meet-greet-charity-u-or-charity-u-austenite/

 

See you there!

 

Also. For those of you who aren't entering the giveaway but might be interested...go "like" Austenitis on Facebook! You can get 10 entries for this in BOTH giveaways, by the way. :) Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/Austenitis  I'd love to see you there!

Girl in the Gatehouse

 
Author: Julie Klassen

Genre: Life

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: I read it via Kindle.

Time period: 1800s

My overall opinion: A good book! Interesting, and had a good dose of Regency mystery. Sure to delight any reader who has previously enjoyed Julie’s books!

Need to Read #32 (BONUS!): Book of Dreams

Title: Book of Dreams

Author: Davis Bunn

Book blurb: For Dr. Elena Burroughs, life is divided into two chapters—before and after the death of her husband. Today marks the point that her span of being a wife is equal to her span of being a widow. Even her success as a psychologist and her worldwide acclaim for a book on the interpretation of dreams is dimmed by an unspoken If only.
Then a new patient arrives, one so private only her first name is given. Impeccably dressed and escorted by two bodyguards, Sandra recounts a frightening series of recurrent nightmares. Elena agrees to consider her case more carefully, convinced that something ominous may be at work here. Elena's interpretation of her dreams confirms that, indeed, the new patient and her family confront a powerful global network of dangerous forces.
As the story unfolds, they face a key question of the Christian life: How do you understand and fulfill the will of God?

Quick endorsement: I’ve read this book twice. The first time, I read it and really enjoyed it, giving it a fairly high rating. The second time, I almost had to force myself to start it…only to find it really was as good a book as I had rated it! All that to say – this is a good book. The cover may not look it, the back cover may not read like it is…but give it a try.

Link to review: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2011/12/book-of-dreams.html

Need to Read #31: A Hobbit Devotional

 

Title: A Hobbit Devotional

Author: Ed Strauss

Book blurb: If you enjoy J. R. R. Tolkien—even if you’re new to his classic stories—you’ll love A Hobbit Devotional featuring 60 humorous, challenging, and encouraging devotionals. Soon to be a major motion picture, The Hobbit has fascinated readers for more than 70 years. Now, this tale of humble folk who overcome fear, discouragement, and despair through steadfastness, courage, and hope forms the basis of a brand-new devotional book. Each reading sketches a scene from The Hobbit, relates it to a contemporary life situation you might experience yourself, and brings in the teaching of a relevant Bible story or verse.

Quick endorsement: I had high hopes when I asked for this book, and they were not disappointed. Some devotional books based on literature are far too preachy, and come across as boring. But some? Are perfect. This is one of those. Perfect for those of you who are avid Hobbit fans, it incorporates the story and the application seamlessly in an interesting manner. I definitely recommend it.

Link to review: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-hobbit-devotional.html